Improvement in folding chairs



GEORGE IY. SVAIN, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

IMPROVEMENT IN FOLDING CHAIRS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 152,189, dated June 16, 1874; application filed April l0, 1374.

To all ywhom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. SwAIN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Folding Chair 5 and I do hereby declare 'the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying' drawing forming part of this specification, in which drawing- Figure l represents a side view of my chair when unfolded. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vcrtieal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan of the saine when folded.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to that class otl folding chairs in which the legs are pivoted together at or near their centers, such legs being connected together at their extreme upper ends by rounds or cross-bars, upon which a flexible seat is secured, while the back is piv oted to the legs, or to the same cross-bar to which the seat is attached.

This invention consists in pivoting the back of a folding chair upon the legs below the seat, and having its support upon stops arranged upon that portion ot' the uprights which extend above the seat, in such a. man` ner that both leg-frames can be strengthened by cross-rounds, while the chair can be freely folded and unfolded without allowing an opportunity of turning or folding either of its paits in the wrong direction, and that, when the chair is unfolded, its backframe is firmly braced by the stops in the leg-frame at a point above the level of the seat.

In the drawing, the letters A A designate the two leg-frames, which, together with the back-frame B, constitute my folding chair. Each of the two leg-fra1n es consists of two uprights a a a!Y a', which are connected by top rounds b b', and additional rounds c d c d. 'Ihe top rounds b b serve as supports for the seat C, and in the frame A the uprights a a extend beyond the top round b, and their upper ends are connected by the cross-rounds c. In the frame A both crossrounds c d are situated beneath the top round b. The two leg-frames are connected by pivots e, so that they can be unfolded to the position shown in Figs. l and 2, or that they can be folded up to the position shown in Fig. 3. The backfraine B is connected by pivots f to the uprights a a of the leg-frame A, said pivots being secured in the uprights below the level ot' the seat C, or below the seat-supportin g round b and the cross-round c, which connects the upper ends of the uprights a a, extends through said uprights, and forms stops g, which retain the back-frame in the required position when the chair is unfolded.

By this arrangement the back-frame is supported at points above the level of the seat, whereby its position is materially strengthcned, and it is enabled to sustain the pressure to which it may be exposed when the chair is occupied, without the leastdanger of giving way.

In folding my chair, the leg-frames are first folded together, and then the back-frame is turned down, so that its top cross-bar bears against the bottom ends of the uprights a a; and in unfolding my chair it is impossible to make any mistake. By taking hold of the top cross-bar of the back-frame this frame swings up, and the leg-frames spread open, without requiring any particular management; and when the chair is folded it occupies but little room, so that a number of my chairs can be piled up in a comparatively small space.

M y chair can be used in the form of a stool by turning theback-frame down to the post tion shown in Fig. 4.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The back B of a folding chair pivoted upon the legs A below the seat, and having its support upon the stops g, arranged upon that por tion ofthe uprights a which extend above the seat, all combined substantially as described.

GEORGE XV. SVVAIN.

litnesses W. I-IAUFF,

F. KAsTENHUBEn. 

